Straightforward tradition at Lo’steria in Rome’s Ponte Milvio neighborhood

Luca Ogliotti is in the kitchen and brother Andrea runs the floor of this restaurant with the skills and smiles of veteran hosts.

We all have a favorite restaurant in our own city, a place where we feel at home and gladly go often. A place to go with the family, for a Sunday lunch that feels like home, or with good friends on any day of the week to be pampered. One of these places for me in Rome, my adopted home for the past 22 years, is Lo’Steria in the Ponte Milvio neighborhood.

Ponte Milvio has become a trendy hot spot in the capital but this restaurant is an oasis of tranquility that the Ogliotti brothers, with Luca in the kitchen and Andrea on the floor, opened in 2012. They are hardworking and reliable and always welcome you with a smile like true hosts. While relatively young, compared to those who run Rome’s traditional restaurants, Luca confidently turns out traditional dishes without missing a beat. The menu is not long but all the dishes are made with genuine, quality ingredients with one of the best quality/price ratios in the city.

Service is swift yet always courteous and while quite “modern”, the atmosphere is informal and welcoming. Among the starters is the saccoccio dei fritti (pocket of fries), crispy and dry and includes the classic suppli rice balls, as well as boiled meatballs, battered and dried vegetables and garlic bread with guanciale (jowl) bacon and Cori vino cotto or butter and anchovies, Bassiani prosciutto ham and a selection of authentic Lazio region (DOL (Di Origine Laziale)) old cuts and cheese. 

But the first courses are where Luca Ogliotti’s skill really shines. The homemade the bombolotti all’amatriciana pasta is, in my view, hard to match in the capital and the carbonara, which we already considered a masterpiece, was cited in an article on where to eat the best carbonara in Rome, published last month on the website of Luciano Pignataro, a leading expert on the capital’s cuisine. Also on the list were Armando al Pantheon, L’Arcangelo, da Flavio al Velavevodetto, Piperno and Roscioli which all cost a lot more.  

The second courses are also super-classic: from tripe to meatballs in tomato sauce, from coda alla vaccinara (ox tail stew) to saltimbocca. And there are also daily specials written on a chalkboard. The last time I was there, about a month ago, I tried two of these and they were both excellent: fried broccoli and sausage rice balls and fettucine with a black pig ragu sauce.

As for the dulcis in fondo dessert list, I have a soft spot for their ricotta and sour cherry tart, which sometimes made in single portions and others as a cake but always really good. But also not to be missed are the tiramisu, crema bruciata (burnt pudding), cimabelline al vino cookies and the chocolate salami the way our mothers used to make it. A nice and delicious touch is the small tin of mini-meringue cookies that are served with the check.

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